Add a slice of movie magic to your March
Get the dates in your diaries - UNI-Versal Dark Nights Film Festival will take place on the 4 & 5 March! Dark Nights Film Festival is the first in a series of five mini festivals to be hosted and delivered by the University of Aberdeen this year. With a selection of events including film screenings and panel discussions with well known film producers, directors, and cinematographers, this festival has something for everyone.
Celebrating Success: Screening of /The Great Conjunction/ - Friday 4 March, 13:00-13:45
Award winning short film by UoA alumna, Karolina Smolova. This short film is a captivating story about Kenneth, an aging astronomer, who plans to watch the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, but his plans get disrupted by his teenage granddaughter. What was meant to be a magical night turns into a shocking discovery that changes Kenneth’s life forever.
Screenwriting with Sergio Casci - Friday 4 March, 14:00-15:30
Sergio Casci is a screenwriter known for his work on the popular television series Katie Morag and River City as well as feature films The Lodge (2019), and The Caller (2011).
Shaken not Stirred - Bond: Past, Present & Future - Friday 4 March, 18:30-20:00
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join an esteemed panel discussion on the life and times of Britain’s most celebrated cinematic super-spy. Speakers include legendary British editor John Grover, whose resume includes The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Octopussy (1983), The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989), and award-winning cinematographer Phil Meheux, whose work in the 007 universe includes the classics GoldenEye (1995) and Casino Royale (2006). Joining the two is Jamaica-born actress Martine Beswick, who made her mark on the 007 franchise with a memorable sequence in From Russia With Love (1963) opposite Sean Connery and was asked back for a more sizeable role in the later sequel, Thunderball (1965).
Film Pub Quiz - Friday 4 March, 19:00-21:00
Put your film knowledge to the test and see how many movies you can get right. Grab a drink and a snack at the Student Union Building and join in the fun when Aberdeen CineClub hosts the first ever Dark Nights Pub Quiz. Open to everyone - it’s not one to miss!
Driving Diversity in the Arts: Panel Discussion - Saturday 5 March, 11:00-12:30
How do we encourage a culture of diversity and inclusion in the UK film industry? Join the conversation with Alexandra Maria Colta from 50/50+ Women Direct, Ica Headlam, founder of We Are Here Scotland and Dr Clive Nwonka, lecturer in Film, Culture and Society at UCL.
Images of Apartheid: Filmmaking on the Fringe in the Old South Africa - Saturday 5 March, 12:45-14:30
Naomi Holwill presents a documentary that remembers the recently unearthed Black action films of the apartheid era in South Africa. The narrative is a reflection on what these, sometimes problematic, motion pictures and representations might mean for aspiring South African filmmakers and fans today.
Highlander with Jonathan Melville - Saturday 5 March, 15:00-18:30 Jonathan Melville is the author of A Kind of Magic: Making the Original Highlander in which he looks back at the making of the 1986 film with more than 50 cast and crew members. Don’t miss this screening of Highlander (1986).
In conversation with Ian McCulloch - Saturday 5 March, 20:00-22:30
Ian McCulloch is a Scottish actor best known for his performance as Greg Preston in Survivors (1975). In the 1970s and 80s, McCulloch found himself in classics of Italian horror, playing Peter West, the male lead character in Lucio Fulci’s notorious Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979). Don’t miss this screening of Zombie Flesh Eaters!
Book your ticket at: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/events/uni-versal/
